The multi-discipline engineering business is holding an interactive mental health awareness day on Friday 28th May, when employees will be able to talk with HR and communications staff openly and receive information packs.
Statistics show that mental health problems in the UK have increased significantly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve all had to adapt to huge changes and deal with the new realities of working from home, unemployment and home-schooling children, not to mention isolation through lack of physical contact with friends and family. Many people have also dealt with anxiety about contracting the virus, illness and loss of loved ones.
The mental health awareness day has been inspired by an ongoing training programme that CBE+ has invested in. Delivered by Yorkshire Training Partnership, the programme focuses on understanding mental health problems such as stress, anxiety, phobias, depression, post-natal depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, dementia and eating disorders.
The final training session takes place this week, and the aim is that line managers will be able to identify the signs of mental health problems faster, and offer support to employees when they need it.
When considering how to communicate all of this to CBE+’s employees, HR Manager Andrea Cooper realised that giving out an information pack was simply not enough and proposed the idea of a dedicated mental health day. Employees will have the opportunity to take part in quizzes, learn about different mental health problems and most importantly, they will be able to ask questions and raise concerns, either directly or anonymously.
"Mental health issues are something we all deal with at some time in our lives," said Andrea. "The past year has been incredibly difficult and stressful for all of us. Sometimes we may just need someone to talk to about our worries, and other times we may need to seek professional help.
"It’s important that our employees feel they can talk openly about these issues, and that they know CBE+ can help. Our onsite mental health day will also highlight the benefits of the health care scheme that is available for all our employees, hopefully urging them to use it for mental health care and other support if they need it. A healthy workforce makes a happy workplace."
